Turtlerunnernc - any particular advice for us new VMI parents?
welcome to the VMI family - it is amazing
I would say trust the system, it works. It is different from any other school, it is stressful and rewarding to see the transformation. Join the Rat mass 2020+3 parent page on facebook - tons of helpful information, run by a couple of parents of the prior rat mass who drop off usually between New Market and Parents Weekend and leave y'all to yourselves. Have your future rat lock down privacy on social media - cadre will hunt for info. Do not tag your future rat / or rata in anything over the summer and during the ratline. Have your rat choose a local church or go to chapel on post, even if they are not religous. He/she will want the break from being on post. Local churches / church families adopt rats and give them some much needed respite. If he/she chooses chapel on post the Assistant Chaplain takes them off post for several hours to a local bed and breakfast to relax ( this is what my son did). Do not deviate from the supply list - they are looking for exactly what they listed, follow the directions. send lots of Airborne, EmergenC, Dayquil / Niquil - they will absolutely get sick. Leave all the details up to your rat once you drop them off = don't call Comm Staff or the guard room to ask questions or complain (yes, people have done this - it generally doesn't turn out well for the rat). The rats will learn the system, they will know what to do and if they don't that is what they have their Dyke for. Leave the rat/ dyke relationship between the rat and the dyke.
feel free to PM me. I am glad to help / answer questions. The 4 years fly by. Seems like yesterday I was dropping my son off, in two months he will graduate. You will actually make some amazing friends. The most unexpected thing from my son's choosing VMI, was the amazing friends that I made. It is truly a family. As soon as they march out of Cameron Hall and up to Barracks you will feel that you suddenly have 500 children.